The longest tenured coach on staff, Scott Etherton has been an assistant coach at Nebraska Wesleyan since 1987, working primarily with the hurdlers.
Known has one of the best hurdle coaches in the country, Etherton’s athletes in the hurdles and horizontal jumps have claimed six NCAA national titles and 102 All-American honors. In 2003, he was recognized as a winner of the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award.
The year of 2025 did not disappoint for the NWU hurdle group. The hurdle group added another NCAA All-American and conference champion. Noah Smith gained first team All-American honors in the 60H placing 7that the national meet. His time of 8.04 is the 2nd fastest in school history.
Etherton was able to have 7 athletes land on the NWU all-time top 10 hurdle charts in 2025. At the conference level, he coached 12 performances that placed in the top 8 at the A-R-C conference championships including Smith’s conference title in the 60H.
A 1987 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan, Etherton is one of the most decorated track athletes in school history, winning 10 All-America awards during his career at NWU. He won national titles in the 60-yard high hurdles at the 1986 NAIA Indoor Championships and in the 110-meter high hurdles at the 1987 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.
In addition to coaching, Etherton is the Director of the Mental Health Crisis Center. He is married to Kassie and has three children, Olivia, Eli (a member of the NWU track team) and Alec.
